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SmartGateVC's accelerator in SoCal will open new tech advancement opportunities for local founders


Glendale, CA - SmartGateVC is announcing the launch of its newest initiative, Hero House Glendale GateWay. Hero House Glendale GateWay is an acceleration program that aims to arm companies with path-breaking technological advancements and scalable business models. Accelerator participants will go through a 12-weeks mentorship program focused on establishing their growth framework, and refining and validating their sales strategies. This is followed by 8 weeks of on-site business and customer development assistance. The program culminates in a Demo Day at Hero House Glendale. During Demo Day, participants will pitch in front of a carefully selected, 100+ invite-only audience of U.S. investors. Moreover, companies will receive assistance for setting up professional, yet cost-efficient tech teams in Eastern Europe. The program will run from February 8 – July 24, 2021․


Founders with strong execution skills, working on robust AI startups with early traction (revenue/user base/launched product) are welcome to apply for SmartGateVC’s Hero House Glendale GateWay accelerator here by December 18, 2020 11:59 PM (23:59 PM) PST.


In their years of operation in Eastern Europe and in the U.S., SmartGateVC has built a robust network of founders, scientists, and business experts, converging where science and entrepreneurship join to disrupt the status quo․ Collaboration between these forces has created a new wave of deep tech companies that have closed rounds with top tier Venture Capital firms, had pilots with industry leaders and topped the lists of America’s Most Promising 50 AI Companies․ The Hero House Glendale GateWay accelerator ensures the consistency and scaling of these collaborations by connecting LA area founders with scientists from Southern California universities.


Why Southern California?


Given Silicon Valley’s sky-high labor and housing prices, many startup founders are foregoing the Bay Area in favor of other rising innovation centers. With its favorable business environment, flourishing marketplace, and talented resource pool, Glendale is emerging as Southern California’s next up-and-coming regional tech hub. Most importantly, SoCal is home to the world’s leading research universities, including Caltech, USC, UCLA that top the lists of the global universities granted the largest number of patents.

The Hero House Glendale GateWay accelerator is funded through the City of Glendale’s Tech Initiative. This is the result of the City’s 2-year effort to develop a Start-Up Tech Accelerator that will further stimulate the growth of the ecosystem of innovation in Glendale.



About The City of Glendale’s Tech Initiative

The City of Glendale’s Economic Development Division continuously focuses on growing Glendale’s thriving tech ecosystem that is home to over 1,000 high tech firms, generating over $5 billion dollars in sales each year and employs over 41,000 people. The Economic Development Team hosts monthly Tech on Tap events that allow local entrepreneurs, startups and tech professionals to network and connect within the city. In addition to this monthly event, the City hosts an annual Glendale Tech Week which has grown into the region’s most exciting and anticipated display of tech and innovation gathering more than 5,500 attendees across 34 events.


About SmartGateVC

SmartGateVC is a Silicon Valley pre-seed venture capital fund backed by Tim Draper and a network of entrepreneurs and professionals from the U.S., Europe, and MENA. Their key focus areas are Artificial Intelligence (AI), Security, Internet of Things (IoT) and emerging Computational Biotech, Quantum Computing and Blockchain across California, Massachusetts, NYC, and wider Eastern Europe. The fund invests on the edge of technology innovation where science and entrepreneurship join to disrupt the status quo.


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